Trail Snack – No Bake Energy Balls Recipe

When you’re hiking, you are burning a boat load of calories. Depending on how much you weigh, how fast you’re going and how much you’re carrying, you burn anywhere between 400 and 600 calories an hour! Needless to say, having a good snack on hand is crucial.

So, just for you, we put together a yummy Energy Balls Recipe chock-full of nutrients, mood lifting superfoods and the right amount of calories to keep you going just a little longer.

Ingredients you need to make your own Energy Balls – makes about 20

1 cup of soaked dates

1/2 cup of almond meal

1/3 cup of desiccated coconut

4 tbsp melted coconut oil

2 tsp chia seeds

5 tsp raw cocoa powder

5 tsp maca powder

How to make the Energy Balls

1. Cover the dates with warm water and let them soak until they’re soft. Depending on how moist they were this can take anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour.

2. Drain your dates once they’re soft and chuck them in a food processor / blender / magic bullet along with the coconut oil and chia seeds. Blend until it forms a paste. Set aside for 15 to 20 minutes to let the chia seeds soften.

3. If you have a strong bad ass food processor, feel free to keep processing on. But since I only have a little Magic Bullet, I decided to put some muscle to use and hand mix from here on.

Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix until combined.

At this point you should have a firm, but not dry, mixture. If your batch came out a bit too soft, add some more almond meal. If it came out too dry, add a little extra coconut oil.

4. Roll your mixture into small bite size energy balls. Roll them around in any topping you like. I recommend desiccated coconut, finely chopped cashews or almonds or goji berries.

Health Benefits of your freshly made Energy Balls

A single ball contains about 60 calories (depending on how big you rolled it). Which is a powerful little hit of energy considering how small they are. Small equals less stuff slushing in your stomach, so they won’t slow you down.

Chia Seeds are an excellent source of Omega 3 which will help keep your joints healthy. With all that down hill pounding, your joint can use all the help they can get!

Raw Cocoa Powder is known to boost your mood and diminish anxiety. Always good things to have at hand to get past some hairier cliff faces and nerve wrecking trail sections.

Ow… Maca Powder. Where to begin… It decreases stress levels, enhances your mood, strength, stamina, energy AND endurance. All and all it a winner! It also boosts the libido (it’s the little blue pill of the Andes) so if you’re hiking a multi-day trail, you might want to seek out a private spot to pitch your tent.